Milligan hosts annual student leadership conference: July 19-25

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (July 17, 2015) — Nathan Hall first attended Milligan College’s Youth in Ministry (YiM) Student Leadership Conference nine years ago, but the Kingsport native doesn’t consider the weeklong event to be just another student conference or camp experience.

“It’s an opportunity,” said Hall, who graduated Milligan in 2013, majoring in worship leadership. “YiM gives students a chance to take a deeper look at what God is calling them to do with their lives.”

Now in its 13th year, YiM welcomes 79 high school students from over 10 states to stay on Milligan’s campus in residence halls from July 19-25. The conference is devoted to equipping high school student leaders with the tools they need to become Christian servant leaders in their schools, communities and around the world.

For Hall, those tools help him not only serve as a full-time vocational minister at Crossroads Christian Church in Gray, Tennessee, but allow him to give back to YiM—he’ll be leading worship at the conference for the third year in a row, as well as teaching a class on worship leadership.

“Many students who’ve come to YiM over the years are now serving in churches as worship ministers, student ministers, children’s ministers and in other positions,” said Phyllis Fox, director of church relations and YiM at Milligan. “We want to show current YiM students how God works in the lives of young adults.”

This year’s speakers include Laura Buffington, creative director and spiritual formation pastor, SouthBrook Christian Church in Miamisburg, Ohio; Matt Agnew, pastor of student ministries, Chandler Christian Church in Chandler, Arizona; and Dori Gorman, co-pastor, Edgewater Christian Church, Chicago, Illinois, as well as many other YiM and Milligan alums who are returning to lead workshop sessions.

The conference also exposes students to the college’s mission of honoring God by educating men and women to be servant leaders. On average, 30 to 50 percent of YiM students continue their journey at Milligan when they graduate from high school. Many become missionaries in places all over the world, or work closer to home as church and worship leaders, elementary school teachers, nurses and many other professions.

“At Milligan, YiM students become leaders among their peers as student ambassadors and peer mentors, and they serve in athletics, student-led worship services, residence life and student government,” said Fox.

Ultimately, the conference is a chance for students to make ministry part of their lives, according to Hall:

“Youth in Ministry challenges students to learn that, whatever their profession may be, they can use that as a ministry to share the good news of Christ.”